Creating group orders

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10318914-B1
Application number	US-201514961246-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 7, 2015
Priority date	Dec 7, 2015
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for an order management service. Orders may be correlated with an existing order to create a group order. The group order may include items picked up or delivered to the same or geographically proximate locations. Incentives may be used to incite participation in a group order, thereby saving on overall delivery costs.

First claim

Therefore, the following is claimed:

1. A system, comprising:
a memory; and
at least one computing device coupled to the memory, the at least one computing device being configured to at least:
communicate, to a first client device in response to receiving a first order from the first client device, an identifier corresponding to the first order received from the first client device for submission to a fulfillment provider device associated with a corresponding fulfillment provider;
communicate, to at least one second client device indicated by the first client device, the identifier;
receive, from the at least one second client device, a request to include, in a group order comprising the first order, at least one second order from the at least one second client device for submission to the fulfillment provider device, the request comprising the identifier;
enforce a time window for adding the at least one second order to the group order, the time window being based at least in part on a submission time of the first order;
disable, in response to receiving the request and determining that the group order exceeds a capacity of at least one of a courier or a corresponding at least one fulfillment provider, generating the group order;
generate, in response to receiving the request and determining that the group order does not exceed the capacity of at least one of: the courier or the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider, the group order comprising the first order and the at least one second order, the group order corresponding to a same delivery route, wherein the first order and the at least one second order are associated with a preparation time by the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider;
apply, in response to the group order satisfying at least one term of the fulfillment provider, to at least one user account corresponding to the first client device or the at least one second client device, an incentive for participating in the group order;
determine at least one time to communicate the first order or the at least one second order to at least one fulfillment provider device associated with the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider, the at least one time being based at least in part on at least one of a travel time by the courier or the preparation time;
communicate, at the at least one time, the first order and the at least one second order to the at least one fulfillment provider device associated with the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider; and
communicate the same delivery route and an indication of the first order and the at least one second order to a courier device associated with the courier.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the incentive comprises at least one of a discount, a waiver of an order minimum, a waiver of a delivery fee, or a promotional discount on a future order.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to at least take an alternative action responsive to the group order failing to satisfy at least one of a minimum number of participants or a minimum order amount.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the alternative action comprises at least one of: withholding an application of the incentive, a division of the group order into a plurality of separate orders comprising the first order and the at least one second order, or communicating a notification to the first client device or the at least one second client device indicating an ineligibility for the group order.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to at least modify at least one user interface of the at least one second client device to comprise at least one element to facilitate the creation of at least one new order for addition to the group order.

6. A system, comprising:
a memory; and
at least one computing device coupled to the memory, the at least one computing device being configured to at least:
communicate, to a first client device in response to receiving a first order from the first client device, an identifier corresponding to the first order received from the first client device;
receive, from the at least one second client device, a request to include, in a group order comprising the first order, at least one second order from the at least one second client device, the request comprising the identifier;
enforce a time window for including the at least one second order in the group order, the time window being calculated relative to a submission time by the first client device of the first order or to an item pickup event;
disable, in response to receiving the request and determining that the group order exceeds a capacity of at least one of a courier or a corresponding at least one fulfillment provider, generating the group order;
generate, in response to receiving the request and determining that the group order does not exceed the capacity of at least one of the courier or the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider, the group order comprising the first order and the at least one second order, the group order corresponding to a same delivery route, wherein the first order and the at least one second order are associated with a preparation time by the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider;
apply to at least one user account corresponding to the first client device or the at least one second client device, an incentive for participating in the group order;
determine at least one time to communicate the first order or the at least one second order to at least one fulfillment provider device associated with the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider, the at least one time being based at least in part on at least one of a travel time by the courier for at least a portion of the same delivery route or the preparation time;
communicate, at the at least one time, the first order and the at least one second order to the at least one fulfillment provider device associated with the corresponding at least one fulfillment provider; and
communicate the same delivery route and an indication of the first order and the at least one second order to a courier device associated with the courier.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a hash string, a randomly generated identifier or a user provided identifier.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the incentive comprises at least one of a discount, a waiver of an order minimum, a waiver of a delivery fee, or a promotional discount on a future order.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to at least communicate the identifier to the at least one second client device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the identifier is encoded for rendering by a client application executed on the at least one second client device, the client application facilitating a creation of the at least one second order.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the identifier is encoded for communication to the at least one second client device as an email message, a text message, a social messaging service message, or a social networking message.

12. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to at least take an alternative action responsive to the group order failing to satisfy at least one of a minimum number of participants or a minimum order amount.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the alternative action comprises at least one of: withholding an application of the incentive, a division of the group order into a plurality of separate order

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Arora Siddharth
• Polyanskiy Ruslan Anatolyevich
• Alkarmi Ashraf
• Gureja Neha
• Lopez Gustavo Euduardo
• Uppuluri Pawan Lata

Classifications

• G06Q50/12

  Hotels or restaurants · CPC title

• G06Q10/08355 Primary

  Routing methods · CPC title

• G06Q30/0208

  Trade or exchange of goods or services in exchange for incentives or rewards · CPC title